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Cousins hopes to stick after wild offseason

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TEMPE, Ariz. -- In a six-week stretch from Oct. 17 to Nov. 30, outfielder Scott Cousins went from the Marlins to Blue Jays to Mariners to Angels, navigating through the waiver wire like few ever do and putting his shoe company -- "3N2" -- in a mad scramble.

"Every time I got claimed, it was exciting because it meant people out there liked me," Cousins said with a wry smile. "I was too busy getting married and on my honeymoon to concern myself with it. I knew I was going to play baseball this year, and that's all I cared about."

On Nov. 17, Cousins married his girlfriend of seven years. And two weeks later, when the Angels claimed him from the Mariners, who designated Cousins alongside former Angels leadoff hitter Chone Figgins, the 28-year-old was in the middle of a three-week getaway in Thailand.

It was 2 a.m. in Bankok when he got the call from his agent.

"So I just happened to be in the city of angels when it happened," Cousins said. "That's pretty cool."

Cousins is known primarily for putting Giants catcher Buster Posey out for the season in an ugly home-plate collision in 2011, but he could be valuable off the bench for the Angels this year. Cousins bats left-handed, plays good defense at all three outfield spots, runs well, has 128 games of Major League experience and posted a .279/.341/.451 career slash line in the Minors.

This spring, he's competing for one of the final bench spots, with a handful of guys of similar ilk -- Kole Calhoun, Trent Oeltjen, J.B. Shuck and Matt Young -- also in the mix.

"Yeah, that's what I was told," said Cousins, who has gone 32-for-175 (.183) in his brief Major League career. "Everybody was very forthright and upfront with their expectations of me and what I should expect from them. That's more than I can ask for. I'm excited to be on this club; I think it's incredible. So, any way I can help out, I'm for that, absolutely. I just like associating myself with these guys."